Los Altos Rotary Club Home of the Annual Rotary Fine Art Show November 12th 2009

It was a cool 65 degrees in Los Altos on Thursday, as LARC Members and their guests gathered for lunch in the Garden House at Shoup Park.  Greeting members and guests were BONNIE BURDETT, RANDY GARD & BOB ADAMS.  Our very own handy-dandy WYATT ALLEN was once again the money man.  STEVE POMEROY and MIKE ABRAMS were our ever-smiling Sergeants-at-Arms.
 
As TRACIE MURRAY readied the room for the magic time of 12:15pm, she realized that we had a larger group then normal.  The buzz of dozens of conversations filled the room, and laughter was emanating from each table.  As the bell was rung, our illustrious President extended her traditional “Good Afternoon” salutation.  Next, visiting Rotarian RALPH OTTE (Cupertino), led the room in the Pledge of Allegiance, and then handed over the mike to BOB ADAMS for the thought of the day:
 On the importance of walking: “Walking can add minutes to your life.  This enables you, at 85 years old, to spend an additional five months in a nursing home at $7,000 per month.  My neighbor started walking when he was 60.  Now he’s 97 years old, and we don’t know where he is.  But the one advantage of exercising every day is; When you die, they’ll say “Well, you look pretty darned good.” I know I got a lot of exercise the last few years … just getting over the hill.  So, every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and by the time I leave, I look just fine” 
 
SAM PESNER led the Club in singing “Smile”.  Afterwards, there was an abundance of smiles in the room.
 
Visiting Rotarians included District 5170 Governor LOREN HARPER (Warm Springs), District 5170 Governor Nominee, ARLEY MARLEY (Sunnyvale), BOB GOETSCH (Hayward), and RALPH OTTE (Cupertino).

As for guests of LARC Members, there were so many it took almost eight minutes to make it around the room with the microphones.  Members with guests included VAL CARPENTER (Karen Greguras), BOB ADAMS (John Nicholson), CINDY LUEDTKE (Felicity Kuo), KENDRA GJERSETH (Suzanne Peck), STEVE SHEPHERD (Steve Wu), SAM PESNER (Tim Carmack), BEVERLY TUCKER (Steve Knight), DON HULL (Von Packard), BUD OLIVER (Margaret Becker and Bud’s wife  Ann and our guest speaker Len Edwards ), ROLAND PAYNE (Ineke Ligtenberg), JOHN CARDOZA (Judy Sanchez), MARY PROCHNOW (Katie Barry), and KATHY BERRY (Mark Rogge).

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
TRACIE MURRAY began the announcement segment of the meeting with a call for volunteers to assist the “Cops and Gobblers” effort to help put together and deliver food baskets on Sunday, November 22nd.  Meet at the front of the Mountain View Police-Fire Building, 1000 Villa Street at 9 AM to be part of it all.
 
Next, SAM PESNER reminded everyone about their Rotary Foundation donations.  He also covered the upcoming Annual Foundation Drawing, which includes a trip for two to attend the Rotary International Convention in Montreal this coming June.  See Sam’s special note below.
 
DAN O’DONNELL asked everyone to consider helping out with RotoCare food delivery. 

NANCY SIMON highlighted the drive for Holiday Sharing with Community Services Agency (CSA).  She will be collecting donations for the next few weeks.  Cash, checks, and gift cards are welcome.  Pajamas are always a needed item. 
 
KENDRA GJERSETH reminded everyone about LARC’s Annual Holiday Party.  The event will be held at the Jesuit Retreat, from 6-10pm on Sunday, December 20th.  The event will include good food, good music, and good fellowship … and is only $55/person.
 
BAIDRA MURPHY announced that there would be a Red Badge meeting later in the day, with SAM PESNER as the speaker.  All were invited.

 
What happened to the Ginger Bread House? 
The Ginger Bread characters are all gone.  There are no presents and the candy disappeared.  What happened?  Will they be back in time for the parade?  You will have to come to the Los Altos Festival of Lights parade on November 29, 2009 at 6:00 PM to find out.  Come early to the Main Street Café and join the rest of the Rotarian family for a light soup and sandwich dinner or just a glass of wine.  It should be the start to another festive holiday season!
 
 

Membership Induction
JOHN CARDOZA led this segment of the meeting, and provided the following testament:

 
“I have the pleasure today of conferring, on behalf of the Los Altos Rotary Club, Blue Badges for ESTER NG, sponsored by MARLIS MCALLISTER; GEORGE ZETINA, sponsored by JACK HEIDMILLER, and BEVERLY TUCKER, sponsored by me (JOHN CARDOZA).
 
"BEVERLY, GEORGE and ESTER – Today you are being recognized for completing all the tasks required of new Red Badge members.  It is quite a long list of things to do.  By completing these tasks, you have gotten to know many of our members, learned how the Club is organized, what it has accomplished, and what it’s ultimate objective is … which is to serve.

"As members of Rotary, and international, humanitarian club of 1.2 million members, you are part of an association of men and women who volunteer their time and resources to help others.  We support projects of local charities, such as CHAC, CSA, and RotoCare; provide scholarships to deserving students, and we also support and address poverty, hunger illness, illiteracy, and other critical issues in the world.  This is why we should all be proud to call ourselves Rotarians.”

After a few words by each of the sponsors (MARLIS, JACK, and JOHN), each was presented with their Blue Badge, which was followed by a round of applause by everyone in attendance.

RECOGNITION
After the presentation of Blue Badges, JEAN NEWTON FRAGUGLIA asked for volunteers, before she began her round of recognitions.  However, before anyone could reply, she called on STEVE ANDERSON.  STEVE announced that he was celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary, and quickly offered up $20 in honor of the occasion.
 
Next up, where a variety of birthday celebrations, of varying ages.  BONNIE BURDETT offered up $40, because she likes round numbers … and said she was rounding up from 39, which was met with some chuckles.  MARLIS MCALLISTER was celebrating her 51st birthday, and offered up $25.  BEVERLY TUCKER offered up $45 in honor of both her birthday, and her induction as a Blue Badger.
 
ESTER NG gave $20 in honor of her sponsor, MARLIS, and another $20 just for being inducted as a Blue Badger.  GEORGE ZETINA, who was already in the President’s Club, gave $50 … $25 each for his Blue Badge and his birthday.
 
BRUCE CANN, who was also celebrating a birthday, offered up $81.  While JEANNE MACVICAR gave $23 for her birthday.
 
There were also recognitions related to milestone announcements.  JOHN CARDOZA joined the Presidents Club following the wedding of his son on a beach in Mexico.  VON PACKARD gave $40 as a thank you for the lunches he has enjoyed as a guest of the club.  DON HULL offered up $30 in celebration of a new granddaughter.
 
JERRY TOMANEK, whose front car wheel came off and passed him up while he was driving, joined the President’s Club saying he felt lucky to be alive.  MARY PROCHNOW gave $20 in recognition of the great turnout the club has been enjoying, as a result of the great programs we have enjoyed.  Next up, BILL MOISON was glad to donate $20 in memory of his beloved Boston Red Sox. 
 
Finally, District 5170 Governor LOREN HARPER (Warm Springs), offered $20 in recognition of the “much larger crowd today than when I spoke.”  Everyone joined him in a round of laughter, and good humor.
 
 

GUEST SPEAKER
BUD OLIVER introduced our guest speaker, Judge Len Edwards, who retired from the Santa Clara County Juvenile Dependency Court.  The following is BUD’s introduction …
 
“Our speaker today is Leonard Edwards.  Most of you already know him.  Len has been our speaker several times, on a subject dear to his and most of our hearts … children.  In May 2006, our Club honored Judge Len Edwards with a Paul Harris Fellowship, and unusual distinction for a non-Rotarian.
 
Len lives in our community and received his many acknowledgements because of his outstanding work … helping children.  Judge Edwards led the Santa Clara County Superior Court’s family court to national distinction with his innovative programs … including helping to start the Child Advocate Program and the Dependency Drug Treatment Court.
 
He is still Judge-In-Residence at the Center for Families, Children & Courts … a State appointed responsibility.  In this role, he travels across the State and County providing advice to his colleagues on best practices he has learned during his distinguished career here in Santa Clara County.  His presentation today will be: Improving Outcomes for Foster Youth.”
 
Following BUD’s introduction, Judge Edwards spoke about the history of his program successes, some of the challenges faced and the ensuing effort to bring a model program across the Country to other communities.  He also brought along a video that highlighted a shift in understanding on the benefits of mediation and meaningful engagement.
 
For those of who would like to view the video of his talk, please contact DAVID CASAS.  It was compelling, insightful, and well received by LARC.  Additionally, there is a separate 10-minute video available which was used in his presentation.
 
TRACIE MURRAY thanked Judge Edwards for being our honored guest speaker, and then closed the meeting promptly at 1:30pm.
 

November is Rotary Foundation Month
In Rotary, our motto is To do good in the world.  You can do just that by making your gift to the Annual Programs Fund before 2009 comes to a close.  By doing so, you will provide a source of funding from which all Rotarians can work together to save lives and change lives through our Rotary Foundation. When Rotarians contribute to our Rotary Foundation, they are supporting the programs and projects identified, developed and managed by their fellow Rotarians throughout the world.  Other charitable organizations do not inspire their members or donors to participate in both giving and the decision-making on how their contributions are spent.  This is unique only unto Rotary. Most importantly, recognize that your contribution is helping another person directly. During Foundation month in November we make our annual contribution to our Rotary Foundation, so now is the time to write that check in the amount you choose to TRF, and mail it to LARC/Sam Pesner, PO Box 794, Los Altos 94023. Thank you for your generosity, PP Sam Pesner, LARC TRF Chair.

And from ALLART LIGTENBERG in Nepal: 

Just got back from very interesting trip to Gatlang village in remote area where we kicked off the new Matching Grant project with RC of KTM Sunrise. A very backward village in all aspects: poverty, health, environment, sanitation, village leadership, etc . It was like a time warp, with situation exactly like 30 years ago when I did my first trek in Nepal. The project will be a challenge, but make a huge difference after we are done. Attached are some pictures. Best, Allart

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